Beef goulash

Our symphony tickets are for Sunday afternoons, and it usually ends around 4. Too early to go to a restaurant, but too late to come home and cook anything time consuming. And believe me, you can really work up an appetite thinking about food during a Mahler Symphony! So on Sunday morning I'll usually make a simple meal in advance, and we can look forward to having it with our wine as soon as we get home.

I see there are many recipes for goulash on the Internet, also a big entry on Wiki. My method is not authentic, but it's a good way to stew up an inexpensive piece of meat, like chuck steak. Amanda is into cooking comfort food right now, and I tell her if you put the right things together in a pot and cook it long enough, the man will adore you.

I start by slicing the beef into strips, then browning it well in olive oil in a heavy pot. While that is happening, chop sweet peppers (red or yellow) an onion, and several cloves of garlic. Add this to the browned meat and cook for a few minutes more. Then dump in a small can of stewed tomatoes, and some seasonings. I use smoked paprika (a great product if you aren't heavy-handed) cayenne pepper, black pepper and a touch of salt. This mixture (below) does not look promising, but put a tight lid on it, and simmer as slowly as possible for at least two hours. Eventually even the toughest meat will fall apart, and the delicious rich sauce basically makes itself.

At dinner time, cook up a pot of noodles.

I bought these fine egg noodles at Big Lots, where I grub around sometimes for bargains. Their food section is pretty scary, but occasionally there's a find. The package says these were made by Amish ladies in Fredericksburg, Ohio.

And here's the Sunday Blue Plate Special:

John often complains that I have a hard time making exactly the same thing twice. He's right. Hey, I'm just a home cook, not a chef. And the lesson is: When you get it, enjoy it!